Mother's Comfort
by BlueLion20
Summary: Esme watches Bella one night. Esme and Bella bonding. The second chapter is up. Esme's POV now.
1. Bella

Title: Mother's Comfort

Series: Twilight

Rating: K+

Genre: Romance/Family

Disclaimer: I don't own Alice, Esme or Bella

Summary: There are memories people don't want to ever relive. Esme-Bella mother daughter fic, Non-cannon relationship.

**Note: **

**Just as a warning, there is a non-canon pairing in this as well as Esme and Bella mush. **

**Mother's Comfort: **

It was almost utterly silent at the house in the woods. Not even a mouse could be heard. However, one would keep in mind, this house was not one where a mouse would run by, let alone live in. This home belonged to creatures feared by all that could smell their scents.

This home belonged to the Cullen coven. A family of vampires.

At this home, there were currently only two residents of the house. The other six members of the Cullen family had gone out hunting, leaving the mother figure of the house, Esme to watch over the human, Bella Swan.

The one living creature that did not fear them, with the knowledge that they were vampires.

The eighteen year old, small human girl thrashed against the bed, not one sound uttered from her throat as she moved. A small tear trickled fro her eye as the images flashed before her, the memories taunted her. More thrashing for a few minutes, this time, a sound that was almost a whine came from the girl's throat as she remembered the Cullens' abandonment.

Edward walking away, claiming that none of them loved Bella, that she was nothing to them. Claiming that she was nothing to Alice. Bella sniffed a little at what she felt, struggling harder on the bed. The pain that came with the dream….it was too much.

The agony from the dream finally became too much and nearly screamed as she forced herself to awaken from the painful slumber.

Bella heaved her breathing as she snapped her eyelids open awaking suddenly. The scent from her bed sheets and covers filling her nose. The Cullens had insisted that she have a bed so long as she come to their home, it certainly wasn't for them. Bella lifted her head as she looked around the room at the same time, her exhaustion immediately wearing off as she contemplated in panic, the dream she saw. She cautiously got up from the mattress, shedding the covers.

Bella breathed in deeply as she dropped her bare feet to the carpeted floor, standing up straight then. Her sorrow and exhaustion swiftly wore off, though there was still the dangerously painful anxiety lurking. Bella felt her innards almost tightening if that was possible at the thought of the dream. She knew she wasn't thinking clearly, but it would be understandable, considering what happened a year ago. She loved all the members of the Cullen family, even Edward with his pompous attitude, and they had hurt her worse than anyone could imagine. Bella had always liked to think herself as not being clingy to other people. Not to be so helpless without everyone that the moment she was alone she would begin to blubber and be in agony every two seconds. But what the Cullen family had done when they had left her, had made her body nothing but a corpse; they had made her dead emotionally.

It was true, the Cullen family had the best of intentions with her, however, because of their unwitting actions, Bella had found herself in a downward spiral of depression. The Cullen family wanted to do what they thought was best, which was why Bella loved them all the more, but it had left a hug black hole in her heart for half a year till they came back to her.

Till Alice came back to her.

Bella squeezed her eyes shut, again forcing herself not to think about all this again, and headed to the stairs to see if the Cullens were in their rooms. She got to the top of the stairs and looked to all the rooms. She didn't hear or see Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, Edward or…Alice.

Bella withheld a flinch at that thought, but whispered out gently, "Guys? You here?" She certainly didn't need to speak loudly; a vampire could have heard her even if they were far off in the woods.

However, there was no answer, no sound from anything in the house. Bella got a serious uneasy feeling in her gut. She knew better than to think that the family would leave her again, but that nagging fear would always linger until it was time for her to be changed into a vampire.

The utter silence of the impressive house didn't help either.

The Cullens, she knew were all out hunting and would come back soon. But the fear, the emotions deep in her told her to panic and that that her dear family would disappear, just like they had a year ago, completely leave her life as if she meant nothing to them.

Bella shook her head, trying to rid herself of the nervousness along with it. "Funny, Bella," She said, chuckling, "Seriously, give yourself a heart attack, why don't you. Honestly, I got enough to worry about."

Giving herself this more or less jaded "self-help" speech, Bella found helped only a little. Not much.

What was more pressing was that her nineteenth birthday was coming up. Memories that Bella really would rather not come up were rearing their ugly heads.

Saying that Bella cared about the family of vampires would not be cutting just how deep her feelings were at all. Bella loved the Cullens more than words could say. The pain that they caused her when they left almost a year ago was too much, not even being with Jacob had put an end to that agony. Then again, Bella amended to herself; Jacob hadn't been any different in the end either. He had just abandoned her like the Cullens all had. He chose Sam Uley and the pack over her. Bella sighed at her painful thoughts as she began to walk down the stairs carefully, grabbing the staircase banner for support, since it was inevitable that otherwise she'd land very painfully at the bottom of the stairs otherwise.

Bella's eyes scanned over the house's large living room. All their possessions were still here so of course they hadn't left. A sigh of relief left her as she got to the bottom of the stairs. She knew she shouldn't be so worried. It was unreasonable, but it had become even harder than usual not to fear another abandonment.

Bella squeezed her eyes shut, blocking the tears from coming out as she thought of what happened. "Stop it, Bella," She hissed to herself quietly, "Stop it. Stop it."

She had missed them horribly. She had missed her brothers, her great, dopey brothers, Emmett and Jasper, her snooty sister, Rosalie, she had missed her dear second father, Carlisle, hell she had even missed Edward…..and she missed…..missed….

Bella wasn't able to hold back her sobs anymore as she fell to the ground on her knees, choking with cries. She had missed her mother, Esme. Not even Renee had compared. Esme was Bella's mother, never mind blood relations. And the day after her eighteenth birthday party, her mother, Esme had left her.

And what was worse…..Bella felt tears starting to stream from her eyes as she remembered Edward's words when he left.

"_Alice doesn't want to see you. She decided that she didn't want you. You were a distraction for her. She doesn't love you, Bella." _

Now Bella couldn't stop the sobs that were racking her body in almost physical pain.

"A…..Alice…." Bella whimpered to herself, tearing up harder.

And….and….Bella shook her head, trying to stop herself from thinking it, but it came anyway. And on top of everything else, she had lost her Alice! They all left…..they all…..left….even Alice and Esme.

Bella, now was sobbing up at the ceiling helplessly, her mouth wide as pained cries were ripped from her throat. In all of Bella's screams and sobs, she didn't hear the sound of the house's main door opening. However, she did manage to catch sight of something flashing from the door to where she was kneeling.

In less than a second, while Bella was crying, after the flash of white had passed quicker than lightning from the door to her, she suddenly felt herself being picked up from the floor by powerful arms.

Powerful, cold as ice arms.

Bella gasped at the familiar feeling as she was gathered into the strong arms and pulled against a cold chest, her eyes faced with a pale neck and caramel colored curls.

Immediately a name came along in Bella's mind with that caramel hair.

"Esme." Bella breathed, tears still dripping.

"Bella," Esme's worried and caring voice stated, the mothering vampire fearing the worst, "Bella, what is it?" She more than easily, lifted Bella up with one arm, cradling the girl to her chest, using her other freezing hand to cup Bella's face in her palm, forcing the still crying girl to face her gentle and nearly frightened gold eyes.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Esme asked, her tone pleading, her face looking desperate to comfort the human, "why are you sobbing so hard? Tell me, please." She kneeled down so that she was sitting and Bella was half held in her arms, half in her lap. "Bella," She whispered again, "Tell me what's wrong. Are you hurt? Did you have another nightmare? Bella, honey, what happened?"

Bella sniffled as she locked eyes with Esme, laying her head against the vampire's stone chest, tears streaming into the collar of Esme's clothes. She bit her lower lip as she cuddled up against her "mother." She wanted to not say it, to not worry Esme worse than she already had, but the pain was too severe.

"It's just," She whimpered out, not meaning to as she started to blabber, "It's just….my birthday is coming up and…..when you….when you guys left….before…"

"Oh, Bella," Esme whispered, cuddling the girl closer to her, "No, no, we won't leave you again, I swear." She held Bella softly, making sure Bella was looking at her to see that she meant every word, "Bella, we all love you. When we left, we made the biggest mistakes of our existences."

Bella sniffled some more as she stared at her vampire mother. "Really?" She mumbled, afraid. Esme nodded, still looking as if she'd be capable of crying, even in her undead state, whispering tenderly, "Yes, Bella. We were wrong to abandon you, so, so wrong. Both Carlisle and I love you and so do your brothers and sister. And you know what Alice feels for you."

Bella buried her face into Esme's cold neck, finding the freezing temperature wonderful. She nearly sobbed again as she remembered Edward walking away, and so too, Alice, Esme and the rest of the family exiting her life. Bella cried harder as she gripped onto Esme's shirt collar. After a few seconds, she pulled away. "You won't leave again?" She asked, looking at Esme in bewilderment. Esme smiled lovingly at Bella's helpless and astounded look.

"Yes, Bella," She breathed, leaning down and pressing her cold lips against the girl's forehead, "We will never leave you again. _I'll_ never leave you again. I promise you." Stiffening in Esme's grasp, Bella just stared for a moment before nodding and hugging herself even closer to Esme's form as the vampire soothed her.

"We were so wrong to leave, Bella," Esme breathed, "we had to be out of our minds to let you go." She held Bella so close to her that their different temperatures started to practically meld together; becoming so joined that in Bella's completely distressed state, she couldn't even tell the difference between her heat and Esme's cold skin.

Esme held Bella as the girl found solace in her mother's freezing arms, sobbing as hard as possible. After almost three minutes passed, Bella's crying subsided finally. As Bella cried what both she and Esme hoped were her last tears, she lifted her head up and looked at Esme, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she asked, "Where….where were you, Esme?"

Esme pulled back as well, looking at Bella, startled. "What do you mean, honey?" She asked, looking pained, "you know when we left that we were in Alaska-"

"No, no, no," Bella laughed, shaking this time in humor, as she smiled up at her mother, "I mean where were you just now? Even if you guys don't sleep, isn't it a little late to go out and garden?" Esme, after a moment, understood what Bella meant and was unable to hold back from smiling gently at Bella. "It's alright, Bella," She whispered to the girl, "I was just moving some parts from Edward's car to the garage." A smirk nearly spilled over Esme's face as she continued, "It still needs to be fixed after what Alice and your brothers did to it, you know."

Bella giggled against Esme's shoulder, grinning widely at the memory of what Alice, Jasper and Emmett had done as payback to Edward for telling her that she was unloved when they had left. Almost none of the family had had any sympathy for him by now. Even Esme and Carlisle who usually favored him had begun to be disappointed in him for his words and mistreatment towards Bella. Esme was fixing Edward's Volvo now, but only so that there wouldn't be more friction between the siblings later. Lord knew how begrudgingly Bella realized Alice must have felt towards Edward when she first found out what he had said to her, the lies he had filled her gullible head with.

Esme regarded her youngest daughter with warm tenderness as she concluded, "See? You just needed to laugh." Bella, chuckled again, meeting Esme's gaze again, wiping her tears away as Esme's love heated her broken heart. Esme said, "Now let's get you back to bed. You need rest and you've upset yourself. Alice will be back soon. She, Rosalie, the boys and your father are out hunting. They'll be back soon." Esme waited a few moments till Bella nodded and then the vampire's face became somber as she said, "Please, Bella, don't do what you usually do. Don't hide your pain. When Alice comes back, please tell her immediately what's wrong. It'll only hurt you more if you're not honest with her."

Bella raised her eyebrows at the vampire. "What?" She asked, smirking again, "You don't think she'll be able to see this? You actually think I'll need to tell her? She can just see me in the future telling her, just by me considering it."

Esme sighed, not able to restrain another smile as she spoke, "Of course she can. But I still want you to talk to her. Even if she sees it coming and knows all you're going to say, I still want you to tell her. You'll feel better when you tell her."

Bella nodded, not wanting to admit that her mother was right, but she was. Bella was unable hold back her huge smile. Esme was always there fore her no matter what. She loved the vampire. She just smiled at her mother, snuggling up against her more as the last of her tears fell. She was okay now. As long as Esme, her family and Alice stayed, she was as wonderful as possible.

"We won't leave you again, Bella," Esme repeated, hugging the girl close, "Never. You are a part of our family. I mean it. Edward won't ever be able to get us to leave you again."

Bella calmed, so that her grin wasn't so wide anymore, but was now just a wide smile as she chuckled. After still snuggling with Esme for a few moments, she whispered, "I know you want to fix Edward's Volvo, but can we wait here till Alice comes back?" Esme chuckled and glanced to the door. Bella's smile faltered and she was about to turn her head to look as she wondered what Esme was smiling about, until she heard a wonderfully familiar voice at the door.

"There's no need, Bella," A concerned voice called out like the chime of a bell, "I'm right here."

Bella turned, her grin immediately returning as she saw Alice standing in the doorway, looking both afraid for the girl, but smiling lovingly at her as well. Bella squirmed up to her feet as she ran over to Alice, jumping into the future seeing vampire's arms as she heard Esme laughing behind her.

Alice held Bella tightly, looking over at Esme. "I came as soon as I saw." She said, looking almost as if she was going to cry as she glanced at Bella, stroking her hands down the girl's back repeatedly.

"It's alright now, Alice," Esme said, smiling as she stood up, "She missed you most of all. You give her strength more than anyone else."

Alice smirked as she felt Bella's tears leak into her clothes, smelling Esme's scent mixed in with Bella's. "I wouldn't be sure of that, Esme." Alice said, finding herself happy that Bella and Esme had become so close.

Esme regarded both her daughters, her smile never leaving her face. She was sure that Bella would be better after tonight. She would have less nightmares and wouldn't be as worried. Certainly she would be better after choosing Alice as her mate instead of Edward. Esme wanted to pride herself on being a good mother and never favoring one of her children over another, however, she knew deep in her undead heart that Alice would be able to make Bella happy, not Edward.

"I'm going to take Bella upstairs so that she can get more sleep now." Alice whispered to Esme, whispering in such a quiet voice that Bella would be unable to hear and only vampires could pick up the words. Esme nodded as she whispered back, "Alright, but Alice? I just fixed more of Edward's Volvo. Stop tormenting your brother for his mistakes, alright?"

Alice nodded, then concentrating on picking the surprised Bella up fully in her arms and zipping past Esme faster than the human eye could watch, all the way up to her bedroom where the bed for Bella was. Esme chuckled as she heard the covers move back and heard Alice's purrs against Bella, calming the human down as she was put back to bed.

Esme proceeded to walk back out to Edward's Volvo. Things were better now. Bella was home, with her mate and her family and Esme would never leave any of her children, including her youngest daughter again.

**Author's Note:**

**As you all see, a very non-canon pairing here and I strongly support AlicexBella. This is just a fic for Esme and Bella in the AlicexBella universe. Don't like, don't read. **


	2. Esme

Mother's Comfort Chapter 2:

Second chapter

Esme checked the wirings in the volvo's engine before closing the hood. Everything looked fine. She narrowed her eyes at the remaining damage. It was true, neither she or Carlisle could stomach what Edward had said to Bella when they had been "forced" to leave her after her eighteenth birthday, but the damage that Jasper, Emmett and Alice had caused to her oldest "child's" car was making this job very difficult for her.

Shaking her head at the ripped open tire that she was guessing was the work of Emmett, she, with her bare, inhuman hands pulled out the tire effortlessly, bringing it quickly with the speed of any vampire over to the junk heap that had been accumulated in the Cullen's garage.

Esme held still for a moment when she heard the sound of the human, Bella who was staying at their house right now waking up. She had heard Bella's thrashing around under the sheets before, which was worrisome but also not unusual. Bella was known to have nightmares on and off about the Volturi and about the family leaving.

A horrendous feeling of guilt formed in Esme at that thought. She knew that she and her family had caused their Bella pain, and now they had to deal with the consequences. Esme waited a few moments. It just sounded like Bella was getting up, not much to worry about, for now anyway. Esme proceeded with what she was doing before.

Going over to where the spare tires were fast, Esme removed the four tires from the shelf that was supposed to be for the Volvo. Esme, with two tires under each arm, went back over to the Volvo, placing the four tires down onto the ground, then turning back to the car.

Once again, effortlessly, Esme reached under the usually heavy car and lifted it above her head, grabbing a tire to put it in place of the old destroyed one. Esme was about to attach the new tire, when she stiffened at a sound coming from inside the house.

Normally, all of the vampires here could hear any sound coming from within the house, but vampires were usually silent. Humans made much more noise than vampires. And right now, with the family's beloved human staying here, it wasn't any surprise to Esme when she heard the sound of the girl walking around the house right now.

Still, Esme found this a little troubling as she heard Bella whimpering a little, as if worried about something. She pulled the tire to the car so as to reattach it, this time still listening to any noise Bella might make.

It was a good thing she did too. After the first spare tire was attached, Esme heard Bella cry out painfully as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Esme, startled, put the car back down to the ground.

Had Bella fallen down from the top of the stairs? She would have heard that, and yet still there was the sound of Bella making a pained noise. Esme walked slowly past the other three spare tires, listening very closely, even more so than most vampires would.

The next sounds Bella made were heart wrenching. Her sobbing and screaming reached its peak, her crying and whimpering finally becoming non stop. Esme couldn't stand there doing nothing anymore; one of her children was in pain, she flitted forwards, faster than any human could see, out of the garage, up the porch steps and into the house.

Esme got through the front door and zoomed into the living room. Esme nearly gasped at what she saw. Bella was on her knees, cringing and screaming as she cried. Sobs wracked through her body in despair. Esme couldn't stand it anymore. Speeding over, she knelt down in front of the human and scooped her up into her cold arms.

Feeling Bella's body against her chest and head up against her stone throat, Esme stared down at the human as she heard a gasp spring from the girl's mouth.

"Esme." Bella whispered, still crying.

"Bella," Esme breathed, her grip tightening only a little so as not to hurt the girl, fear heightening, "Bella, what is it?" Esme felt her own fear practically control her actions she cupped Bella's face with one hand very gently and forced the human girl to look at her.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Esme almost begged, "Why are you sobbing so hard? Tell me, please." She decided that Bella might feel better if she was held sitting down. The girl needed the most comfort Esme could offer her. Esme kneeled down a little, but made sure Bella had as much contact with her body as possible. "Bella," Esme found herself completely desperate as she spoke, "Tell me what's wrong. Are you hurt? Did you have another nightmare? Bella, honey, what happened?"

Esme felt helpless right now. It was times like this when even the vampire part of her was also completely helpless. There was the mother part of her and then the monstrous part of her. The monster part of her, the part that was all vampire wanted to bite Bella as a twisted act of affection. Esme immediately calmed that part of her down. When vampires loved someone, their most primitive part also loved that person, but had a hard time restraining that oh so dangerous monstrous part of the vampiric instinct to bite their loved person to show that affection.

Esme knew that the monster part of her didn't really want to hurt Bella, but she quickly chained that part of her up before anything got out of hand, and once she was sure that the monster was back in its mental cage just growling at her through its bars, she locked her eyes with the sniffling Bella whose tears were streaming down her face and into Esme's clothes. As if the vampire cared. She watched in awe, almost sure that her heart would swell up if it wasn't for the fact it was dead, at the sight of the girl cuddling even closer to the vampire.

Esme's worry was the only thing that stopped her from smiling in delight. No matter how dangerous she and the rest of the Cullen family were or monstrous, Bella always opened her heart to them.

"It's just," Bella whimpered out, "It's just…..My birthday is coming up and…When you…..When you guys left…Before…,"

Upon hearing that, Esme's heart nearly broke. Bella thought they were going to leave her _again_?

"Oh, Bella," Esme found herself whispering, holding back any growl of anger at the thought that Bella would think this, and she pulled Bella closer to her, "No, no, we won't leave you again, I swear." Esme kept her hand firm under Bella's chin, making sure that they were making eye contact as she spoke, "Bella, we all love you. When we left, we made the biggest mistake our existences."

"Really?" Bella asked, her voice almost broken sounding, and yet so hopeful. Esme nodded as she said gently, "Yes, Bella. We were wrong to abandon you. So, so wrong. Both Carlisle and I love you and so do your brothers and sister. And you know what Alice feels for you."

Bella only gripped Esme harder at that. Esme watched, again, agony filling her as she watched her littlest child sob and hold onto her with abandon. Finally, Bella looked up again at Esme.

"You won't leave again?" Bella asked, clearly stunned at what she had heard Esme say.

"Yes, Bella," Esme repeated leaning in a little and kissing Bella's forehead gently, "We will never leave you again." Esme wanted to emphasize that she would not abandon the girl again either, "_I'll_ never leave you again, I promise you."

Esme could feel Bella stiffening in her arms as she stared at the vampire before hugging herself against the vampire's chest and neck, but then nodded. Esme narrowed her eyes a little. Did Bella doubt her vow? She might have violated her right to be a mother to this girl before but it would never happen again.

She decided to reassure Bella again.

"We were so wrong to leave, Bella," She breathed into the girl's ear, "we had to be out of our minds to let you go." Esme pressed Bella even closer to herself. Not too hard though, she knew, perhaps even better than her mate Carlisle and Bella's Alice did, that Bella, as a human was far more frail than any vampire was, and any further pressure against Esme's stone body could cause serious damage. But she held Bella tightly enough that Bella wasn't getting away and that the vampire's stone skin seemed to practically meld with the human's warm flesh. Finally, Bella broke down and sobbed against Esme, crying for a few good minutes. Esme all the while stroked her daughter's hair, soothing her. Bella kept sobbing until finally, her tears slowly stopped and her cries waned.

Bella then looked up at Esme, causing the vampire to turn her attention to the girl. Bella asked, her voice a little shaky, "Where…..Where were you, Esme?"

Esme felt startled at that question. Her confusion then quickly transformed into heartache. She held back a whimper at the question that sounded so much like an accusation.

"What do you mean, honey?" Esme asked, ignoring the desire to flinch as the subject was brought up again, "you know when we left that we went to Alaska-"

"No, no, no," Bella suddenly laughed, shaking at this and startling the vampire as Bella then smiled, "I mean where were you just now? Even if you guys don't sleep, isn't it a little late to go out and garden?"

It took a moment for Esme to process this, and then she almost laughed herself, but instead just smiled, relief flooding her. "It's alright, Bella," Esme found herself speaking softly, so softly she wasn't sure that Bella would hear, "I was just moving some parts from Edward's car to the garage," Esme found herself smirking at the thought of Edward looking distressed at his almost destroyed Volvo, "It still needs to be fixed after what Alice and your brothers did to it, you know."

Esme's smirk was still strong as she felt Bella giggle into her arms. Obviously, she and the rest of the family weren't alone in condemning Edward for what he had done; telling Bella that she was unloved and shouldn't be with them. Bella clearly found his distress amusing too.

Esme pulled herself back from Bella's body as she said lovingly, "See? You just needed to laugh." Bella laughed a second time, bringing one of her hands up to wipe away her tears. Esme smiled as she continued, "Now let's get you back to bed. You need rest and you've upset yourself. Alice will be back soon. She, Rosalie, the boys and your father are out hunting. They'll be back soon." Esme watched Bella's face to see how the girl absorbed this information before Esme remembered Bella's very unhealthy habit of keeping her issues to herself and not allowing herself to be looked after and added, her expression worried, "Please Bella, don't do what you usually do. Don't hide your pain. When Alice comes back, please tell her immediately what's wrong. It'll only hurt you more if you're not honest with her."

Bella didn't look convinced. She raised her eyebrows at this statement. "What?" She asked, amused, "You don't think she'll be able to see this? You actually think I'll need to tell her? She can just see me in the future telling her, just by me considering it."

Esme smiled a little. It was true, Alice and Bella had a very strong, intense bond. Far stronger than the one Bella had had before with Edward. Bella and Alice seemed to be so bonded that Bella just considered a possibility and Alice was able to see it; more than she was able to see others' decisions.

"Of course she can," Esme stated, "But I still want you to talk to her. Even if she sees it coming and knows all you're going to say, I still want you to tell her. You'll feel better when you tell her." Esme finished her confident opinion, eyes still on Bella lovingly.

Bella nodded, but Esme could see some remaining signs of resistance in her daughter's eyes. Esme's smile widened. Bella was so stubborn because of how considerate she was. However, Bella suddenly had a huge smile on her face and nodded, as if confirming something to herself. And then to Esme's delight, the girl snuggled herself hard to her mother's chest, hugging Esme closely in affection. Esme hugged her tightly as well. She loved this human girl.

Words couldn't express how angry Esme had been when she found out what Edward had done in order to keep Bella out of their lives.

"We won't leave you again, Bella," Esme repeated as she nuzzled into Bella's hair, "Never. You are a part of our family. I mean it." Esme stopped talking and then, angrily thinking of Edward again she added, "Edward won't ever be able to get us to leave you again."

Esme noticed Bella smiling now and she could have sworn that her dead heart was warmed at the sight. Before anything else happened, Esme smelled the scent of her older daughter, Alice approaching. She heard the swift, speeding sound of Alice careening through the wet grass on the pathway to the house.

Esme's attention however, was caught when she heard Bella speak again. "I know you want to fix Edward's Volvo," Bella said quietly, "but can we wait here till Alice comes back?"

At that question, Esme found herself chuckling a little and looking at the door where Alice had just shot through and was now standing there, her face concerned and golden eyes panicked.

"There's no need, Bella," Alice's voice chimed through the room, "I'm right here."

Esme released Bella, allowing the girl to turn around and look at where her vampire lover was standing. Alice gave Bella a gentle smile, but Esme could easily see how terrified her second daughter was for Bella. Bella on the other hand got up almost immediately and ran over to Alice, thrusting herself into the little pixie's arms. This actually earned a laugh from Esme.

Esme watched as Alice gripped Bella. "I came as soon as I saw." Alice said, loudly enough so that both of us would hear and stroking Bella's back.

Esme smiled a little and got up. "It's alright now, Alice," She said, smiling at her daughter, "She missed most of all. You give her strength more than anyone else."

Esme saw Alice sniffing and knew that she was smelling Esme and Bella's scents being mixed together.

"I wouldn't be sure of that, Esme." Alice said, a look of satisfaction replacing whatever grim expression she had before. Esme looked at both Bella and Alice. She knew at that moment that if her heart could swell, it would probably explode. Everything was perfect now, as it was supposed to be. Alice would take good care of Bella. She was always there when Bella had nightmares or couldn't sleep, always there.

Alice spoke again, only this time, speaking in a voice that only Esme could hear and not Bella, "I'm going to take Bella upstairs so that she can get more sleep now." Esme nodded as she heard the words only a vampire could hear.

"Alright, but Alice?" Esme whispered back just as quietly, "I just fixed more of Edward's Volvo. Stop tormenting your brother for his mistakes, alright?"

Alice nodded, making Esme feel a certain level of contentment. She felt no enjoyment anymore than Alice or the rest of the family did for the act that Edward committed by tricking all of them and convincing Bella that she was unloved. However, things needed to be forgiven so that all of them could have peace, including Bella.

Alice then picked Bella up, completely scooping the girl up in her arms bridal style, startling the little human. And Alice speedily went passed Esme, up the stairs all the way up to Alice's room where Bella's bed was.

Esme chuckled when she heard Bella's gasp as she was dropped on the bed and heard Alice's rumbling purrs against Bella, in order to calm the girl down and soothe her back to sleep.

Esme walked off to the door to get back to Edward's Volvo. Everything was fine now. She had all of her children with her and her youngest would be joining them soon. Alice would change Bella into a vampire soon. Bella was right about one thing. Bella's birthday was coming up. And it would be her last human birthday she would have; after Bella turned nineteen, Alice's venom would replace Bella's blood and Esme and Carlisle's youngest daughter would be joining them forever.

With that, Esme closed the door and was sure this time that she felt her heart warm when she heard Alice purring and then heard the sound of Bella's moaning as she fell asleep peacefully.


End file.
